GLYN KIRK / AFP/Getty Images
Venus Williams celebrates beating Croatia’s Donna Vekic during their first-round match at Wimbledon on June 27, 2016. 
Five-time champion Venus Williams won her opening match at Wimbledon for the 17th time when she beat Donna Vekic of Croatia 7-6 (3), 6-4.
Vekic, who was 1 year old when Williams made her Wimbledon debut in 1997, had two set points in the first set serving at 6-5 but blew them both on errors. Williams ran through the tiebreaker.
In the second set, Vekic had a break chance for 5-3, but another unforced error squandered it.
Williams broke for 5-4 and served out in her 19th Wimbledon, a record among active players.
Associated Press
